Although withdrawals would be issued quickly, refunds could take some time, Cr Doyle said.

"We need to find out if they're [the drivers] at the same address, how they want to get paid and so on," he said.

The council had records of all affected drivers, who would be individually contacted win the coming months.

“We will work to refund any fines already paid as soon as possible, but it is a complex process that could take several months to complete," a spokesman for the council said.

The two staff members had been re-authorised and no-one will lose their job, Cr Doyle confirmed.

The $3.2 million hit to the council’s budget will eat up most of the $4 million surplus left over from the 2013-2014 financial year.

Councillor Stephen Mayne said the council would be able to take the money from a stash of $100 million the triple-A rated municipality has sitting in the bank.

He said it would have no impact on the current year’s surplus, forecast to be $6.37 million.

Cr Mayne, the chair of the council’s finance and governance committee, said he felt for the two council officers who had worked for two years, only to have all their fines refunded.

“It is completely not their fault and we’re not blaming them,’’ he said.

‘‘At the end of the day it is a windfall for those people that parked in the city illegally and can now get away with it.”

Cr Mayne said he and Lord Mayor Robert Doyle were first made aware of the error last week, and on Tuesday night they briefed other councillors in a confidential meeting.

Cr Mayne said it was important council were open and transparent about their mistake.

“You don’t do a Daniel Andrews and duck shove,” he said.

27 comments so far

How will this "cost" the Council 3.2 million ? We are continually being told that traffic fines and parking infringements are not revenue raising, they are to control traffic and parking. Therefore returning some of these fines should not affect Council revenue at all.

Commenter

MarkH

Location

Melb

Date and time

July 30, 2014, 8:52AM

Excellent point, Mark H!

Commenter

Beano

Location

Auckland

Date and time

July 30, 2014, 9:04AM

Good question, Mark. Council will now say it will have to raise rates etc due to a financial black hole....which was never there in the first place.

Commenter

PeterC

Date and time

July 30, 2014, 9:30AM

Um, yah, turns out that was a bit of a porky pie.

Commenter

(Not) 'Rob Doyle'

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

July 30, 2014, 9:39AM

What a silly comment. Check the dates from when it happened, its in the past and so obviously in past budgets. Where do you think the money from infringements goes? Into capital works and community services. So it means that the council wont be able to do as much as they originally thought they would be able to. So really, it costs the community.

Commenter

Em

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

July 30, 2014, 9:43AM

When has the council ever said it's not revenue raising? Revenue from parking fines is in their budget every year. You are probably thinking of the state government and speeding fines.

Commenter

Huh?

Date and time

July 30, 2014, 9:45AM

Em & huh: when Robert Doyle says the council is making up for a shortfall in revenuehttp://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-09/melbourne-parking-fees-rates-going-up/4679336

Commenter

PeterC

Date and time

July 30, 2014, 10:30AM

PeterC: Yes, that's exactly what I said - he is not denying it's revenue raising. At least he's honest about it.

Commenter

Huh?

Date and time

July 30, 2014, 11:07AM

"When has the Council ever said it wasn't revenue raising ?" Just about every time they are asked to comment on the matter. Our esteemed Lord Mayor has been particularly vocal on the matter. My comment was intentionally facetious. We all know that without altruistic and civic minded meter overstayers, most Councils would be broke.

Commenter

MarkH

Location

Melb

Date and time

July 30, 2014, 11:28AM

MarkH, PeterC's link above confirms that they do not deny it's revenue raising. You can call it taking advantage of motorists if you like, but the fact remains that it is an efficient way of ensuring that selfish individuals don't occupy valuable parking space for inordinate amounts of time and that this valuable resource is shared around fairly. The rules are very clearly stated at every parking bay, and if you choose to ignore them, you are choosing to add to the council's coffers. You do have a choice.